


right there.

by orphan_account



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, M/M, best friends being the dorks they are, there Could be some elliot/leo here if you Squint, this is all very self-indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-30
Updated: 2015-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-28 23:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5108969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elliot was holding a brush in his hand.</p>
            </blockquote>





	right there.

**Author's Note:**

> i was listening to some relaxing music and then i decided, "oh hey, i'll write some elliot and leo because i feel really really really bad and stuff so yeah let's do this shit"

He's in bed and he plans on staying there for the whole day.

He's too lazy to move, and okay, so maybe he doesn't want to move. He wants to forget about the quiz for World Lit tomorrow (he'll ace it anyway), and he wants to forget that he has to play at The Nightrays tonight.

The Nightrays is where he works at. He plays every Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, from 19:30 to its closing time at 22:00.

Maybe he can call in sick and maybe fake a cough here and there. His voice has always sounded hoarse anyway, he can totally fake it. Or he could send a text to his partner to tell him that he'll not be playing tonight, and that he should probably ask someone else to play for him. Gilbert, maybe. Vessalius will hopefully understand. Oh, or he could ask his older brother Oswald to play tonight. Oswald likes going to The Nightrays anyway.

Ah. But there is a bit of a problem to that seemingly perfect plan for him to get more time to laze around.

**Him.**

Fair skin, pale haired, beauty mark under the eye, loud, _loud_ , always _too loud_. That person will no doubt see through his ruse and most likely drag him over to work. That person could totally manhandle him if he wanted to. _'You're too light, you need to eat more!' He'd said one time, 'It's like I'm carrying a sack of potatoes. Except it's more air than potatoes.'_ That is so hyperbolic, by the way. He does too have some weight in his little body. It's not his fault that guy's like a beast or something.

But yes, that guy would definitely know that he was lying and had just wanted to laze around the whole day. He might call and shout at him tonight, when his brothers are asleep, or he might shout at him tomorrow, in school. There was just no escape from the inevitable shoutfest if he did not go to work tonight.

 _'Maybe I should just call him right now. Tell him that I won't be able to come tonight.'_ He gropes for his smartphone on his bedside table, almost knocking down his fake glasses and alarm clock. He has that guy on speed dial, he was forced to have him on speed dial. It was important, apparently.

He picks up after a few seconds, _"Leo? Is something the matter?"_

"Mmm nothing. I just, maybe I won't be able to come play tonight." Leo waits for the angry outburst, steels himself, waiting for the cue, a deep breath, because he has a pair of lungs on him, always has...

It doesn't come.

Instead, _"I'll be there in 10 minutes."_ And then he hangs up on him.

_Huh?_

"E-Elliot...?" He looks at his phone in disbelief. Elliot's coming over? What for?

* * *

True to his word, Elliot knocks on the Baskerville's door after 10 minutes. Leo sluggishly makes his way for the front door, unlocking it, expecting a very irate Elliot. Instead, Elliot doesn't even look the least bit annoyed. "Hey," he says.

"Hey," Leo steps aside so Elliot can let himself in. He watches as Elliot toes his shoes off at the front door. "So, what did you come over for?"

"Well, you said you weren't coming to work tonight." _What does that have to do with anything?_  His curiosity must have been written all over his face because Elliot actually scoffed, "What, is it bad that I wanted to come over and see a friend?"

Woah. Was he worried? How considerate of him. _That's a first._  Leo laughed.

"What's so funny?" Here, Elliot looks like his usual annoyed self, but he was also a bit red in the face. Leo finds him endearingly silly.

"Are _you_ okay? You're probably sick, maybe you should go home," Leo said, hiding his chuckles behind a hand. He so loved teasing Elliot a lot.

"Oh, ha ha. Shut up."

Leo wants to ask Elliot the real reason why he came over, but he can wait. He isn't in a rush, not today.

They both walk into Leo's room in silence. Leo heading directly to his bed, falling head first on his pillow.

"Oi, can you even breathe like that?"

"Mmph." Leo doesn't even lift his head from the pillow. He hears Elliot opening one of the drawers of the small vanity by the door. What on Earth was he looking for?

"You're going to die of asphyxiation." 

Here, Leo lifts his head, "If I die, I die." And then buries his face in the pillow again.

"Okay, but don't die while I'm around, people will think I killed you." He then hears a small _'Aha!'_ and then the drawer was pushed shut.

"Ha ha, that would be bad for business at The Nightrays." Elliot was going to be the one to inherit the family business when he turned 23, which was odd because he had three older blood siblings, and two more older adopted siblings. Why it had to be him, Leo had no idea. But it delighted Elliot a lot and filled him with pride, so there was that.

"Hey, scoot over a bit." Leo moved his head a bit to peek at his friend. Elliot was holding a brush in his hand. Oh, so that's what he was looking for. Leo scooted to the side, giving Elliot some space to get on his small bed. He could feel the bristles of the hairbrush combing through his hair gently. It felt really nice, and he was actually getting kind of sleepy.

He was in such a nice daze, he couldn't quite hear what Elliot had just said to him.

"Sorry, wha' d'you say?" His voice came out a bit slurred, thick with sleepiness.

A sigh, "I said: For someone who is meticulous when it comes to his surroundings and everything he does, you don't seem to pay much attention to your looks. Your hair's a mess, plus your fringe covers your eyes." It took quite a bit of time for Leo to understand what Elliot was saying, he was paying more attention to the way the brush was going through his hair, undoing some tangled hair here and there.

"Eh, I don't really like fixing my hair much. I kind of like it better like this." He was getting sleepy again. A yawn escaped from his lips.

"Like it better like this? Why?" Elliot had stopped combing through his hair, and placed the brush down. Leo almost whined. Almost.

"People stare." Without something going through his hair, Leo was nearing wakefulness again. Which was kind of disappointing, he was liking the treatment Elliot was giving his hair.

"You like it when people stare at you?"

"No, not that. I mean, people stare at my eyes. When I fix my hair."

"Oh."

Elliot was one of the few people who had the chance to see Leo's eyes anytime he wanted to. At first, Elliot thought his eyes were mysterious, even a bit scary; but now, Elliot liked looking at them. They looked like they changed colors, Leo's eyes. Sometimes, under the bright light of the sun, they looked like gold. When the skies were blue, so were Leo's eyes. During the near evening, with the sun setting, there was this sort of purplish hue to them. Elliot kind of liked watching the way Leo's eyes changed color and shade. It was such a shame that Leo hid them most of the time under his hair and his... disgustingly fake thick-framed glasses.

"Yeah. You know I don't like it when people look at my eyes for a long time."

"I know. It sucks when they do that."

And the rumors too. Neither of them needed to mention it. There had been rumors going around Lutwidge Academy, their school, about Leo having witch's eyes. Cursed by God, eyes of a deranged killer, gorgon, and all the other stupid shit.

"You know, those rumors were complete bullshit. I still haven't found the assholes that spread it."

"It doesn't really matter, does it? They'll pick on anyone like me."

"Heh, it's 'cause they can't reach your level of genius that they resort to petty acts like bullying." He grabbed the brush again and started combing through Leo's hair once more.

"Obviously." Leo placed his head back down on the pillow, sighing softly.

Leo was a scholarship grantee at Lutwidge Academy, a school for the elites. The Baskervilles weren't a well-to-do family like the Nightrays or the Vessaliuses: people who worked for the upper echelon of the government, famous business owners, renowned people of the law, and all the other famous names that "mattered to society". Whereas the Baskervilles were a family of three. (There used to be four of them. Leo's mother had died of an illness when he was 12 years old.) Leo lives with his two older brothers: Oswald and Levi. Oswald was the second son, blessed with a good ear for music, the same as Leo. Levi was the eldest, an excellent writer that spun stories of adventure and chivalry, but Leo never seemed to be impressed by his works. Levi has yet to find a publisher, but he's optimistic and says that things will happen in due time. Elliot likes the Baskerville family, and he was sure other people from his family also liked Leo's family. His uncle - Raymond Nightray, a strict man with a perpetual frown - seemed to like talking to Oswald a lot. They even had their own table at The Nightrays, and they would always find the time to meet up there. Elliot also knows that his sister, Vanessa, likes reading and is actually very interested in Levi's writing. Whenever Elliot asked her what she thought, she would put up an air of indifference, but he never missed the twinkle in her eyes whenever he brought up the topic. So there was that.

And, of course, Elliot liked Leo. They were good friends. He was the first friend Elliot made that didn't act like a kiss-ass to get into his good graces. Leo was blunt, sarcastic, and was always there to add a word in when things were fueling Elliot's 'overly huge ego'. That probably doesn't sound like a good friend to others, but Leo was almost like a blessing to him.

Almost.

Having Leo around was like taking care of a cat. You do not own the cat, it owns you. It'll scratch you and hiss at you and be mean to you at first. It'll show its affection to you in its own way. Also, it took a lot of time before it warmed up to you. Leo was definitely a cat.

Speaking of cats...

Elliot patted his pockets with his free hand and soon found what he was looking for: a Hello Kitty hairclip. He had bought it as a gag gift for Leo's 17th birthday, but he had forgotten to give it.

He looked at his friend, and saw that he had fallen asleep. Very slowly, Elliot clipped Leo's fringe to the side, exposing his forehead and closed eyelids. To his surprise, Leo actually looked good with that clip on, cute even.

It wouldn't really matter though, Leo would kill him once he woke up and looked at a mirror. Maybe he should warn somebody of his imminent death at the hands of the man who could very well throw tables at him, despite his small body.

With that being said, he grabbed his phone from his breast pocket and called one of his brothers.

_"Oh, Elliot, I was just about to call. Do you know where Leo is? Oz is looking for him, saying something about wanting to practice for tonight's gig."_

"Hey, Gilbert. Leo has a bit of a fever and I'm thinking of taking care of him tonight. Could you take Leo's place with Oz today?"

_"O-oh sure! I'll do that! Um, please tell Leo my greetings and I hope he gets well soon!"_

"Sure thing. I think Ernest has the keys, just tell him you'll be the one closing today."

_"Okay. Ah! I better go. Take care of yourselves!"_

"Yeah, bye."

* * *

**Extra:**

"Wha'...?"

"Morning, sleepyhead. Had a good dream?" Oh god, he could not feel his fucking feet.

"Why can I see clearly. Elliot, what the fuck."

"God, such language. Have you looked into a mirror lately? You actually look quite human, if I do say so myself."

"... Did you just--"

"It was for your birthday. It brings out the color of your eyes, you look quite... dashing." If he gets a black eye and a busted lip from this, it was going to be so worth it.

"Hey, Elliot?"

"Yeah?"

"You're fucking dead to me."

**Author's Note:**

> well, i wasn't expecting the birthday part.
> 
> edit: i didn't realise i put in "if i do say so myself" twice, and i am reminded of the text meme, and honestly i am disgusted


End file.
